The view from the road

What you have done

Talk to the children of Hoang Su Phi about what stands out for them from the last six months and they will tell you about one thing: the moon cakes supplied by Plan during the late-autumn Moon Festival.

"How delicious it was," says grade four student Chong. "We felt very happy. We hope Plan will keep buying cakes and candies for us during festivals since never before have we had many sweets like this." Chongs friend Pay also exclaimed, "I will never forget this year's Festival. I sang many songs and played many games with friends but I like best the good cakes from Plan".

The adults, on the other hand, will talk to you not about sweets, but about training and workshops intent on sweetening their lives. Like training to help families identify new ways of generating income. Or training in livestock management. They'll talk about the Family and Community Development Funds, which are helping them access the tools they need to support their livelihoods and build better futures for themselves and their children.

Who you have helped

You've helped people like Them, a farmer and father to two young children who is working hard to provide for his children and build better lives for them. Them attended training sessions that helped him consider new ways to earn an income. He was also thrilled to take part in cattle breeding training, something he'd always dreamed of doing, and something that will help him better care for and manage the buffalo he owns. He recently made use of the Family Development Fund to buy a rice harvest machine, materials to fix the buffalo cage and two pigs and two goats. He says the training has inspired him and he's already thinking about how to grow his farming business in the year to come.

"Next year, I will buy cattle, fertilizer and repellent," says Them. "I also want to attend more classes on economic development."

How you have helped

You've helped ignite change in all of Hoang Su Phi.

The Family Development Fund has helped families access funds to repair their homes and their animal cages, and also helped them purchase pigs, chicken, goats, rice harvesting machines and essential medicine to keep their livestock healthy so they can better generate food and income.

The Community Development Fund has helped build bridges, repair drawbridges and rehabilitate the commune's preschools, making them more conducive to sheltering and nurturing young minds.

The Fund has helped provide vocational training for young people and also helping to build a latrine at a local community centre. The funds are building preschools, helping families purchase cement to fix their roofs and building a new community centre. The Community Development Fund is also helping the community build a new water system.

Because of your support, families in all parts of Hoang Su Phi are accessing the tools they need to improve their lives and working together to improve and strengthen their communities.

What's next

This is just the beginning. Too many families in Hoang Su Phi are struggling to stay warm, struggling to find food to fill empty stomachs, struggling to simply survive. Too many children are walking too far to get to school or are not in school at all. But the people of Hoang Su Phi hope for better days and they're doing everything they can to get there.

"I will try best to afford my children's schooling so that they can become communal officers or teachers with stable salary," says Dang Van Tuan. "I don't want them to have hard lives like mine."

With your help, Tuan and mothers and fathers throughout Hoang Su Phi are finding the tools and the means to make their children's lives easier and better. With your help, they have a Plan to do that.

About Plan International

Founded in 1937, we are one of the world’s oldest and largest international development agencies, working in partnership with millions of people around the world to end global poverty. Not for profit, independent and inclusive of all faiths and cultures, we have only one agenda: to improve the lives of children.